


I could use somebody next to me.

by ReptileRuler



Series: PRaZ FebuWhump [24]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Angst, Depression, Gen, Heavy Angst, Old Dib, Time Skips, pre-prazr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29715351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReptileRuler/pseuds/ReptileRuler
Summary: “You promised me at least eighty years. You lying, stinky, horrible liar-head."Febuwhump 2021 DAY 28: “you have to let me go”
Relationships: Dib & Zim (Invader Zim)
Series: PRaZ FebuWhump [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137614
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	I could use somebody next to me.

**Author's Note:**

> BE AWARE OF THE CONTENT WARNING AND ALSO MAYBE MAKE A CUP OF HOT CHOCOLATE BEFORE YOU START

“Come on, Dib-idiot, come on…”

Zim held Dib’s weathered hand in both of his. The size difference had only become more obvious over the years. And now the wrinkles and the all the more visible veins and moles had made something  _ else  _ very obvious.

“Zim”, Dib said through the breathing mask, “there’s only so much you can do. You can’t grow me new organs.”

“Yes I can!” Zim yelled, “It’s possible! I just need access to a laboratory! Just hold on until then, Dib! Zim will-”

A second hand rose to cover Zim’s. All breath left the little alien. He glanced down at the gruesome hole in Dib’s side. It made Zim think of a missing piece in a human-shaped puzzle, and if only Zim could find the missing piece, he could slide it into the slot, and Dib would be whole again.

“We had a good run”, Dib said, “I got to see space.”

“Quiet, stupid worm”, Zim said, vision blurring.

“I guess I can’t be mad… we did so much stupid shit that it’s a miracle I made it to sixty-three.” Din laughed. “If we were on earth I would be retiring about now, go figure.”

“You promised me at least eighty years. You lying, stinky, horrible liar-head. I will not stand for this. You will live, or I will go back to your beloved planet and blow it up, hear me?” 

“Zim… you have to let me go.”

Zim cried. He hated crying in front of anyone, even Dib, whom he’d spent the past several decades with. Even after all of their amazing space adventures, he despised feeling weak and letting someone else see it. 

“Please”, Zim begged, “Don’t go.”

But Dib went. If there were any goodwill in this universe, even humans who died in outer space had an afterlife to go to. A Heaven, or a Valhalla, or even a new life as a reincarnation, Zim didn’t know or care too hard. He didn’t specifically believe in such things. Still, part of him wanted to think that his human was in a better place now.

For him, life continued on. He was still a young Irken, although wiser now. He stayed away from the ever-growing Irken empire. He took on the odd job when he needed money, threw himself in danger like he’d always done. Soon, he forgave Dib for leaving him. But that didn’t make it any easier.

The ship’s engines needed to be fixed. They were making clunks whenever he made turns in outer space. It was fine; he could do it later. He got around to it when they were stranded on planet Bomullia, unable to get the ship to start. Ordering spare parts to that planet took months, and Zim had very little to do during that time. He napped it away. 

The Computer, now a central part of his beloved VOOT, wore out some of his wiring. Zim put it off for almost too long, until he was almost too late, and scrambled while praying to every religion he’d ever heard of that he wouldn’t lose another piece of himself. In the end, it was fine, and Zim had to sit still for a full day before his hands stopped shaking. 

His bones grew weary. Not from age, like Dib’s body had once done, no. He hadn’t had a non-robot companion in years, decades even. And it wasn’t that Zim wasn’t used to solitude, but to this extent, well, he was fighting against the biological need for closure that came from being a social creature. He grew tired and sluggish, easily annoyed, and had a harder time finding jobs that suited his desires.

GIR also degraded. Not to any life-threatening extent, but the guilt from almost killing his Computer still lingered, and Zim’s sole mission for a while was to will himself to fix the SIR-unit. Even then, it took nearly a full year to finance, purchase, and finally install brand new parts that didn’t lock up when GIR got too excited. 

He started noticing the quality of the eyesight in his right eyeball decreasing. In the mirror, the optical implant had dulled, and the fine shell had developed hairline cracks in one corner. It got worse, the cracks spreading at a predictable pace. After a year, Zim was half blind. 

He could probably get the parts to fix it. Maybe he could even get in contact with an optical implant surgeon willing to fix the implant  _ for  _ him, but it seemed useless. It wasn’t like he would live too long anyway. He was alone, and his body was failing him.

Then, news of a forgotten ship reappearing.

Zim was happy to ignore the miraculous news that the Massive had survived a century in the florpus hole. The previous Tallest were exiled, just as him. In a sign of mercy, or maybe mockery, Almighty Tallest Sun and Almighty Tallest Olive let them keep the Massive. But the matters of the empire weren’t his matters.

Then, Zim stumbled into them in an awkward reunion on some far off planets that sold antique machinery parts. Stuttered small-talk when they recognized each other, everyone painfully aware that any power imbalance between them was long gone. They were all exiles now, unwanted and disgraced. He’d been in a hurry to be on his way.

And despite the vastness of space, of all the other freelance aliens out there, and the infinite opportunities presented to him, Zim found himself with a well-paying mission. To steal some stuff from the Massive. It would be pretty easy, even - it was a huge ship, the chances of Red or Purple even noticing were next to none. Well. Then stuff happened, and he saved Red’s life, and lost the stuff he meant to steal in the process. Unfortunate. 

He ended up staying on the Massive for a while as payback for them making him lose stuff that were technically theirs. In theory, none of them ever needed to see each other. But, Zim was alone. And while he was personally ready to die, his self-preservation instincts had not come to the same conclusion.

So he approached them. Time and time again. In a weak and embarrassing display of stupidness, he let them close. Adventures found them, some great, some small and petty, but Zim found them… fun. Sometimes it reminded him of an easier time, in Elite training, with the occasional group mission where the three of them definitely hadn’t gotten along. 

Maybe all three of them were lonely. Maybe their paths had always been connected, meant to cross over and over again in different situations. Destiny was another thing Zim didn’t believe in. 

But he did believe in forgiveness.

Or maybe he was just always bad at holding onto grudges.

Either way, one day, in the far future, Zim realized that his bones were no longer weary.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah... yeah... sorry... ;_;  
> [Title from this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwSxYKQRJXc/)
> 
> Anyway. That's the last of the Febuwhump prompts! I really didn't intend to write for ALL of them, but I got carried away! Thank you for reading, commenting, leaving kudos and suchlike. I appreciate it all <3 <3
> 
> [My tumblr ](https://reptile-ruler.tumblr.com/)


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